Highlights
National Marriage Week begins this coming Saturday, just in time to help couples and families across the United States celebrate love and lasting marriage in their communities as we head toward Valentine’s Day. This growing international movement is observed by more than 23 countries each year, including the United States, typically from February 7-14. National Marriage Week USA brings marriage leaders and married couples together around a common good: restoring marriage to its essential role in the American family.
Many churches and communities across the country use National Marriage Week’s free radio ads, graphics and proclamations to promote the benefits of marriage while also leveraging its free resources to encourage designated time, attention, and tools to help couples strengthen their marriages. In the U.S., that includes free broadcasts for seven consecutive nights to help married couples deepen their connection. This year’s broadcasts will feature Gary Chapman, Les & Leslie Parrott, Greg and Erin Smalley, Jim Burns, Sharon Jaynes, and Montell and Kristin Jordan, among others. Following are some examples of what various faith communities, cities, and states are doing to strengthen marriage.
Religious Communities Lead the Way
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is using the timing and materials of National Marriage Week in conjunction with World Marriage Day, observed on February 8, to provide resources for bishops, priests, deacons, married couples, and men and women “to help celebrate and live the great gift of married life.” National Marriage Week broadcasts, posters, and graphics are being paired with USCCB-produced podcasts, videos, and prayers and made available through the bishops’ For Your Marriage website, enabling individual dioceses to combine and use them to minister to their parishes. The result is that many Catholic couples will be able to participate in special Eucharistic Holy Hours on February 14, or be recognized in an Anniversary Mass for married couples.
National Marriage Week is a way to prioritize and implement what we know to be true: healthy marriages are vital to America’s families and future.
Many individual churches are also using the week as an opportunity to strengthen marriages in creative and meaningful ways. Several churches, including Staples Mills Baptist Church, Hope Church, New Life Church, and Mechanicsville Christian Church, are hosting marriage retreats. Others are opting for lighter, more playful events, such as date nights and comedy evenings. Hope Church in Oregon, People’s Church in Fresno, CA, and St James Church in Tulsa will be hosting comedy nights on or around February 14. South City Church in Little Rock has organized a concert for couples, while SONrise Church in Wyoming, and Third St. Bethany A.M.E. in Virginia are planning elegant galas featuring food, music, and dancing.
Community Marriage Initiative Events
Beyond churches, Community Marriage Initiatives across the country are also leveraging National Marriage Week to host and promote events. Eye to Eye Marriage, Oklahoma City’s Marriage Initiative, will hold its 19th annual Sweetheart Ball on February 14. Marketed as a night to “fall in love all over again,” the event invites couples to pause, reconnect, and invest anew in their most important relationship. In Western North Carolina, the Marriage and Family Initiative is hosting an elegant Valentine’s Dinner Date Night, complete with child care, while the Marriage Initiatives in Tacoma and Wyoming are each planning a more targeted date night: one for newlyweds, the other for law enforcement.
In addition to hosting events, several Community Marriage Initiatives have launched statewide marriage challenges to coincide with National Marriage Week 2026. Charlotte Marriages is equipping churches with ready-made resources and challenging area churches to either host a community date night, preach a sermon on marriage, or offer a marriage assessment for couples in the congregation. Participating churches can access easy date night ideas, sermon outlines, and vetted marriage resources designed to make involvement easy and effective.
Because Virginia is for lovers, the Virginia Marriage Initiative has geared its challenge for couples across the Commonwealth. The challenge invites couples to grow together by attending a marriage-focused event, completing an online check-up, or enjoying a date night. Couples are encouraged to invest in their relationships by completing at least one of these activities during the month of February, with special emphasis on National Marriage Week. To facilitate the challenge, the Virginia Marriage Initiative website provides a map showing the many events happening across the state. It is also running a social media campaign to raise awareness and to encourage a culture of marriage across the state.
Combining these approaches, the Arkansas Marriage Challenge as well as the Maryland and Pennsylvania Challenges seek to enlist both couples and churches. Couples are encouraged to have a date night, take an online assessment, or sign up for one of the seven National Marriage Week broadcasts or other marriage class or workshop. Meanwhile, churches in these states are challenged to host a date night, offer a marriage assessment tool, as well as promote National Marriage Week broadcasts or some other marriage class or workshop to support couples. In addition, Maryland and Pennsylvania ask pastors to pray a blessing over marriages in the church.
From elegant galas and comedy nights to retreats, assessments, and date nights, these efforts and events provide practical marriage support for healthier and happier marriages. National Marriage Week is a way to prioritize and implement what we know to be true: that healthy marriages are vital to America’s families and future. As National Marriage Week continues to spread, it offers both a season and a space to invest in marriages with lasting benefits for couples and communities alike.
Katie MacLeod is the Family Policy Director at the Marriage Initiative which has been the U.S. host for National Marriage Week since 2022.
*Photo credit: Shutterstock.
